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Thursday, 26 June 2014

'Under the streets of London...

It's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armours and pale in black velvet. This is the city of people who have fallen between the cracks.

Why did this book have to end? Since reading 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' I have completely fallen in love with Gaiman's writing style and the fantastical worlds that he conjures up concealed in the sewers and underside of London, following the story of Richard, a typical Londoner who one day finds a bleeding girl on the pavement...which leads to him being unable to live in his reality of London and instead try to survive in the strange world of unopened doors, wild beasts, floating markets and rat-speakers.

I could not put this book down. The characters Gaiman creates are utterly brilliant, there is such a diverse range of characters which offer the humor and heart ache you want from any great novel. It is full of adventure, twists, some brilliant word play and yet again the most terrifying villains. Seriously terrifying.

I need to refrain from buying more of his books ... I don't even believe it myself.

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Both : £9.99 from Boots

I feel that I am a little late to the party on the side of BB creams, however after finishing my Rimmel Foundation (that I cannot remember the name of)I decided to take a look over at the Loreal counter. I had been looking to purchase the True Match Foundation for a while so after getting my skin matched to one of the many shades, I picked up the BB cream just as something to give a go.

Nude Magique BB Cream-
This claims to give Flawless coverage, a perfectly even skin tone, a fresh dewy glow, 24hr hydration and has SPF 12. So basically it claims to be Jesus in a bottle. To begin with I really couldn't get the hang of this, I tried applying it with my fingers as some of the YouTube tutorials told me. This ended up with patchy orange areas all over my face... attractive. SO I eventually tried applying it with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush which worked really well. As the micro capsules burst the creme turns from white to match your skin tone. I did finds this quite orange tone on my skin, there are limited shades with only light, medium or dark tones, however after playing around with a concealer and powder I have finally got to enjoy the product as a light alternative to foundation.

True Match Foundation-
As I previously said I had heard a lot of this products from beauty bloggers, this is what tempted me to it. The product itself is a very standard liquid foundation, although it has to be said the range of choices for skin tones is truly incredible for a drug store foundation. This proved a bit much for me who had to ask the lady to match my face (N3, I am usually NC15 in Mac). This foundation is apparently meant to improve the appearance of your skin as you wear it... I haven't myself seen much difference to my skin but I do like this foundation just as something quite fuss free.

Verdict-
I definitely would purchase these two again, I have probably be using the BB creme more recently with the oncoming summer heat, however as I said I did have to play around to figure out what worked best for me. The foundation on the other hand provides good coverage and brilliant shade options.

Let me know if you have purchased either of these products, did you find anything different to me?

Saturday, 21 June 2014

1. Organise

After a hectic few months finishing uni, I feel that my room feels cluttered and unorganized. This makes me so annoyed, however instead of organizing my own room, I prefer to look at beautiful pictures on the internet of beautifully organised and tidy spaces. PRODUCTIVE. So this summer I have made a full scale action plan to completely organize my room from top to bottom.

2. Cook

When it comes to the kitchen I am definitely more of a baker than a chef. But after seeing the recent 'healthy-eating' blogging wave, I really want to give it all a go (let's see how long until the cakes return).

3. Take Photos

This is on everyone's summer to do list isn't it. However I have a wall in front of my desk covered in framed film camera photos of places I go and people I love. This is ever growing and I really want this to have more recent photos of the summertime. I hope this point is properly demonstrated by my photo of an Italian wonky lamp post (move over Annie Liebovitz).

4. Pinterest Craft

Everyone on Pinterest has that one board that they stick all the crafting and DIY ideas on with the full intention of 'doing later' because 'it'll be fun' or even better because 'it's pretty'. My such board is ironically titled 'Useful'. So this summer I am determined to do at least one of these projects from beginning to end, because honestly who doesn't need a giant pom pom garland.

5. Prep for new term

I really feel like I should definitely put this on my do to list...I mean it's the thought that counts...right?

6. Read

You must have gathered by now that I am a book lover. The fact my friends check Waterstones before ringing to see where I am should probably be addressed at some point. Regardless I am a bookworm and shall never stop reading.

7. Save

I don't want to even give this one a picture because frankly I don't want to. The word save is even a dull word, but it's going to have to happen so why not start now.

8. Explore

This one is my favourite to-do. When your in one place a lot I find that you seem to keep going back to the places be that shops, cafes, restaurants etc... I really want to break out of this habit and explore some new things in old places.

9. Get off the Internet

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself (including watching back to back Keeping Up with the Kardashians, sorry not sorry.)

10. Laugh

But most of all to just be able to look back on this summer as a great one filled with laughs and good memories.

Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Ever the Disney fan, as soon as I saw the first trailer teaser for Maleficent, I knew I would have to see it. However after paying the £7.60 for the privilege, I was left very surprised but in a good way! The story as many Disney re-makes shows the popular Sleeping Beauty tale re-told from the villain.

I think a lot of people had reservations at such an iconic actress as Angelina Jolie playing the lead in a role that is very well known. However as soon as the movie started I completely forgot who Jolie herself and got sucked into this beautiful fairy tale world, where the story was as compelling as the fairy tale world.
I was utterly entranced by the whole movie and would completely recommend it to any Disney enthusiast! However it may cause involuntary contouring like Angelina's in the film, I cannot stop.

Monday, 16 June 2014

After hanging my final piece for my exhibition it finally dawned on me that I actually have finished my first unofficial year at uni. Even though it was definitely the most stressful and hardest year so far, I have learnt a lot even if that wasn't necessarily academic. I have met some people I know I will be life-long friends with during my time there and have laughed and cried so much with them, I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

Thursday, 12 June 2014

At the end of the aisle is Rob - the man and the she's about to marry.

Next to Rob is Ben - best man and the best friend any two people ever had.

And that's the problem.

Because if it wasn't Rob waiting for her at the alter, there's a strong chance it would be Ben.'

I picked this up after a recommendation from a friend after her first book. I'm not really a 'chick-lit' kind of girl, however I really loved this book.

The story centers around three characters: Maddy, Ben and Robert. Best friends since primary school, the book follows them as they travel through school and uni. But most importantly it follows the love lives as they overlap an intertwine in heartbreaking ways.

This is just a really easy, well written and just a really refreshing love story. This is definitely a great book to read on holiday or if you need a break after a hard or bad book, as this will definitely cheer you right up.

I would love to tell you all what book I will be reading next but ... I have no idea myself. I'll be a surprise.

4. Whisk together your icing sugar and butter until mixed (add a dash of milk if needed), then add into the mix the cup of lemon curd then whisk again until smooth. Just as a personal preference I added some caster sugar to the mix to add a crunchy texture to the icing, but that's just me. And then finally you can add extra raspberries on top for decoration.

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Recently my Mum was travelling down south to visit my Grandma in hospital, when she found herself, through no fault of her own missing her connecting train leaving her stranded at the station.

Unable to pay for a taxi to her destination, she was stuck. Until someone offered her a little act of kindness. After a few phone calls and some negotiating later, she was offered a taxi paid for by the train company for causing her the stress and inconvenience. The taxi driver and my mother apparently 'put the world to rights' during the hour and a half journey, leaving her happier and feeling blessed that everything had worked out.

This kindness from people continued into her stay at her hotel where staff were so accommodating and were happy to just go a little bit extra to help in any small way they could which really made a difference in a stressful and upsetting time.

This got me thinking about acts of kindness, that take no time or thought to do but can make a huge impact on the receiver. There are a million ways in which this can be done whether it just be holding the door for someone, paying for someones morning cup of coffee or even just calling someone who may need a little lift. With the amount of distractions and worries in everyday life I wonder weather if everyone did one small thing to put a smile on someone else's face, what would the impact be?

Above are some of my favourite 'Random Acts of Kindness' I have found on the internet. Let me know if you have ever been effected by a 'Random Act of Kindness' or whether you have took part in one yourself.

Thursday, 5 June 2014

I posted a while ago that I would be starting to read this book, but however how much I tried I could not finish this book. It is a lot more challenging than I thought, and although I really enjoy the dystopian genre from the writings such as Margret Atwood. I just didn't feel this held my attention and I was really not looking forward to reading it. Life is too short to read bad books ... so I'm moving on!

Next I will be reading 'You're the One that I Want' by the lovely Giovanna Fletcher....